Gonarch
The Gonarch is the final phase of the Headcrab's life-cycle. It is encountered in a boss battle taking place in one of the last chapters of Half-Life, Gonarch's Lair. Only a single Gonarch is encountered by Gordon Freeman during the game. Overview Little is known about how and when the metamorphosis from Headcrab to Gonarch takes place, as few Headcrabs ever reach that stage. The Gonarch boasts a thick exoskeleton, powerful legs, and a large sack resembling a testicle dangling from its underbelly. It can easily withstand massive amounts of projectile and explosive damage, taking even more explosive damage to kill than a Gargantua. The large bag of flesh which hangs from the creature, commonly referred to as its "sack", seems to be a reproductive housing. During the battle with Gordon, it releases undeveloped baby Headcrabs at a rapid rate with no apparent limit to their quantity. Small and soft-looking, these Baby Headcrabs are not very dangerous, but they can walk a bit faster than full-grown Headcrabs, attack rapidly and are smaller (almost a third of a full grown Headcrab) and thus more difficult to hit. The Gonarch makes loud, mournful-like sounds when a Baby Headcrab is killed. When the Gonarch is angry or injured, it will emit a loud cry. The Gonarch seems to lack sensory organs. However, during the attack on Gordon, the Gonarch never comes close to running off the edge of its platform. Entering the Gonarch's lair results in an immediate attack. Gonarchs attack by charging at their victim, then attempting to puncture them with their massive legs. They also have a ranged attack: yellowish balls of acidic material from the top of their shells which they hurl through the air like mortars, raining down upon the victim. Upon death, a Gonarch explodes violently. Behind the scenes *The creature was originally known under the nickname "Big Momma". Its model is also named "big_mom.mdl", while its entity is "monster_bigmomma". *The Gonarch was apparently born very simply, when someone at Valve asked, according to Gabe Newell, "Why don't we put a giant testicle on a 20-foot-tall armored spider?". Therefore the name may be a portmanteau of the words "gonad" and "monarch". A "gonad" is a scientific term for the reproductive organ of any living creature, the male mammalian gonad being the testicles. The "monarch" part would refer to the creature's hierarchical status in headcrab society, or simply its "boss" status within the game. *According to Ted Backman, the Gonarch was a strongly contested design around Valve's office during the development of Half-Life, considered by some to be too graphic, a thing Backman did not agree with. However Gabe Newell liked it, which greatly influenced its inclusion in the game. *Strong art direction and clear goals were set for the Gonarch from the start, but the AI proved to be very complicated due to the size of the creature and how different it was from the more common game monsters of that time. *In the early stages of Half-Life 2's development, a device used to spawn Headcrabs from a Gonarch's sack, the "Combine Big Momma Pod", was to be seen in Ravenholm.Playable ''Half-Life 2'' BetaPlayable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta filesWC mappack Trivia *The Gonarch appears to be very weak if spawned directly through the console using commands, and usually ends up dying after being hit with a single magazine of the Glock pistol ammo, and will not explode after death. However, in Half-Life: Source, the console-spawned Gonarch is invincible. Gallery Pre-release File:Bigmomma concept.jpg|Concept for the chapter Gonarch's Lair. File:Gonarch model early.jpg|Early model. File:Bigmomma wallpaper.jpg|Early promotional image, including a scientist. File:HL E3 1998 splash.gif|A more recent version, used as splash screen on E3 1998.E3 Report on Wavelength File:Combine BM Pod.jpg|The Combine Big Momma Pod found in the Half-Life 2 Beta files. Retail File:Gonarch model.jpg|Gonarch model. File:Gonarch.jpg|The Gonarch on Xen. File:Gonarch first.jpg|Gordon Freeman facing the Gonarch. File:Gonarchs-Lair.gif|Gordon facing the Gonarch. File:C4gonarch.jpg|Gordon being attacked by mini-Headcrabs and Gonarch. List of appearances *''Half-Life'' *''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'' References es:Gonarch ru:Гонарч Category:Bosses Category:Half-Life Category:Headcrabs Category:Enemies Category:Ted Backman designs Category:Xen creatures